It Wasn't Supposed To Happen This Way
by OrangeGokage
Summary: Once he awakes from the final battle with his brother, Naruto and Sasuke share their last words. With Sasuke passing away, how will the world be different for Naruto and his teammates, especially Sakura? Naruto decides to leave to search for that answer and many others, but can he leave things the way they are? What will he do? Oneshot/Prequel


It Wasn't Supposed To Happen This Way

It wasn't supposed to be like this…

He was supposed to live…

Why did he have to die? He was finally back, he finally fulfilled the promise he made. The three of them could finally be back together. This wasn't supposed to happen. They had the same injuries, same amount of bruises, and the lowest amount chakra to live. One could wonder how he survived, he was fighting longer and harder than anyone. Even with the seemingly unlimited amount of chakra he possessed, he was drained after the last fight the two would ever share. It ended in similar fashion as their first one three years ago. The two signature attacks, that they themselves made famous, clashed for the last time. The effect of the clash laid waste to the valley. If the statues didn't survive, which almost didn't, the whole valley would have been completely unrecognizable. Besides the two, only their master would have known where to look for them after the god like explosion in the upper atmosphere.

She awoke from the trance that was placed on her. She had just missed the winds and lightning strikes of the explosion that ravaged the entire world. The winds moved the cocoons all the way back in their home village, possibly all villages. Her master did his best to explain what was happening but all he could manage was…

"They are settling things, once and for all."

She didn't like it. Her, what seemed to be, best friend and, what seemed to be, her love interest were fighting…again. She felt useless, again. But this time, he was truly the only one who could bring him back for good, to her, for her. Her only wish was to have them both there, by her side. For good…

His eyes slowly opened. The bright shine of the light from the moon hurt his fragile and sore eyes. He knew, without even looking, he was injured…bad. He slowly moved his head to his right, his brother was still out. He glanced down to examine himself. His right arm was gone from the elbow down. And so was his, except it was the left. He chuckled to himself, just another way they were similar. Blood had already seeped out from both wounds. Lying on a slightly slanted platform, their blood came together. Like two fingers intertwined, like the bond they shared. Intertwined forever, even in the face of possible death for both, never was it severed. Only minutes after his awakening, his brother regained his own consciousness. Their last conversation, he would remember it forever.

He finally accepted him and admitted defeat. He could even see a tear come from his swollen shut left eye. Was it a happy tear, or a tear of his coming fate? He already knew, he wasn't going to make it to the sunrise. His blood loss was just too great. He was exhausted from the constant fighting of the night before. He had to secure the future, with his dying words and final breaths in his body, he spoke to his brother one last time.

"Naruto… We must undo the Tsukuyomi…Now.."

"If we move too much Teme, we will die… I told you that already. We just have to wait for Sakura to get here."

"I won't make it that long. Not past sunrise."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke. He was trying to tell if he was lying or telling the truth. Sasuke wasn't lying, not in the slightest. "Sasuke, we have the same injury. If you can't make it, I won't be able to either. But I fully intend to see her face when she sees you are finally back."

Sasuke knew Naruto would not be easy to convince about this, but he had to succeed. If he died before undoing it, all they went through would be for nothing. "Dope, listen to me for once. You will make it, without a doubt. Your fox friend has already made sure of that. I have just enough strength left to undo it. The future must be saved and preserved and we are only ones who can do that. Then it will be up to you…" He took in a deep breathe, trying to get air into his shutting down body. "You must become stronger than anyone could ever possibly imagine, then exceed that limit again and again."

"Why do you have to die?!" Naruto suddenly burst out. "I finally brought you back! Sakura will finally be happy again! You can't leave us in the dust again! I won't let you!"

Sasuke chuckled. "It's funny you bring her up in all this. You say she finally will be happy again, but she would just get happier. She was already happy, Dope. Me coming back would only increase it."

Naruto was silent before he spoke again, in a normal voice. "What are you talking about Sasuke?"

Sasuke smirked a bit. "Oblivious as always I see. Just protect her, Dope. I know how much she means to you. And she may not admit it, but you mean a lot to her." Sasuke looked up at the full moon, for the last time. "Let's do this Dope. I'm…running out of time…"

Naruto didn't want to believe it. The better part of his teenage life was dedicated to bringing Sasuke back. And after he finally succeeded in his promise to Sakura, and now Sasuke was going to die. Saving the world no less. Deep down, Naruto knew Sasuke was right… The two used the strength they had to get on the sides of their missing limbs. The two moved their non-dominant hands closer together to form the sign of Kyo.

"Release..." The two said in unison.

At the moment they spoke, all cocoons in the world started to unravel. All forms of life were exited from the dreams of their desires. Once the shock of the release was over, the remaining Ninja Alliance Force cheered in victory the winning of the war. The Five Kage came together to assess their current predicament. As the five were discussing, the chakra of two different ninja could be felt not far from their position. They arrived as quickly as their battered and exhausted bodies would let them. Kakashi and Sakura were finally regaining themselves and were about to leave for the Final Valley. The two did the best they could to inform the Five Kage on the current situation of the two brothers and what happened while everyone was in the Tsukuyomi. Tsunade did what she could for the beyond exhausted ninja, but even she couldn't handle much chakra use. While the rest of the Kage left with Sakura and Kakashi, Mei, the Mizukage, stayed behind to inform the Ninja Alliance Force on what happened.

Naruto and Sasuke collapsed back to their laying positions. With the release of the worldwide genjutsu, Sasuke could die in peace. Now, in a very long time, he was happy. Sasuke used the last of his dying strength to look at his best friend and brother one last time.

"Will see each other again, Teme?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke's eyes started to get heavier and heavier. "Without…a…doubt…Dope."

"Tell Itachi, your parents, my parents, Pervy Sage, Neji, everyone up there… Tell them hi and that I'll make good on all their promises…All of them…"

"Sure….thing…Dope…" Sasuke's eyes closed as his final breath left his body for good. He died with a tear in his eye and a small smile on his face. He was able to spend his final hours with the man he considered his only friend. He wouldn't want to spend it any other way. Naruto heard his brother's final breath. Tears fell out of his oceanic eyes as he watched the stars light up and sparkle at the arrival of his brother. His eyelids became too heavy for his strength and iron will to keep them open. His only wish would be to spend more time with him…one last time…

Naruto awoke once again, but to the sounds of voices around him. He could feel his injuries being closed and healed. The chakra was all too familiar, Sakura. Before he opened his eyes to the voices and bright sun, Naruto listened in on the conversation.

"This was one hell of a battle. You say they fought all the way in the upper atmosphere, Kakashi?" The voice was deep, it was A, the Raikage.

"Yeah. I watched the two fly up and clash with god like attacks."

"How in the hell did that kid manage to fly?" Onoki, the Tsuchikage, asked.

"Like I said, Lord Tsuchikage, both Naruto and Sasuke received powers from the Sage of Six Paths. I'm pretty sure Naruto doesn't even know the extent of his own power now."

"And that is something must keep hidden away. And the body of the Uchiha must be destroyed, so no one can get this power." A said, with some force.

"If you touch either of them, I will knock the living shit out of you." Tsunade defended.

"Why are you defending the Uchiha? He is a national criminal for his actions against us at the Kage Summit, a rogue ninja from your own village, and had the power of a god. We cannot risk this power falling into the wrong hands!" A yelled back.

"I agree with the Raikage." Onoki said.

As Sakura healed Naruto's wounds, desperately wanting him to wake up and put an end to this and to inform her on what happened, she was starting to reach her limit again. But her job wasn't done, Naruto still had some wounds that needed healing immediately. Naruto could feel Sakura's draining chakra and her starting to push herself. He decided it was time. Naruto started by opening his eyes and whispering so soft that only Sakura could hear him. "Don't push yourself Sakura. I'll be fine in minute."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise that caught the attention of Kakashi. He slowly moved over next to Sakura to see Naruto's were open. Both were relieved that their student, teammate, and friend was alive, awake, and well. It was time to enlighten the Kages and stop them from doing anything to Sasuke's body.

"If you touch my brother's body, I will not hesitant to attack you."

The sudden booming voice stopped whatever arguing was happening between the Kages. They all turned their attention towards the hero of the world, Child of Prophecy, Naruto Uzumaki.

"So the Hero awakens." A said. Tsunade and Gaara quickly rushed over to Naruto's side to make sure he was, in fact, awake. They were overjoyed that the old knucklehead was alive and well.

"Glad to see you are still in one piece kid." Tsunade said.

"We are forever in your debt Naruto. Words of thanks will never be enough to repay for your actions." Gaara said in his same monotone voice.

"Thanks, you guys." Naruto rolled his head over to his right to see a white sheet over the lifeless body Sasuke. "Help me up."

All were surprised at Naruto's sudden request. He shouldn't be standing up yet. He just woke up from the hardest fight of his life, his blood loss was unbelievable. It was nothing short of a miracle that he was alive, let alone awake. "Are you sure you can Naruto?" Sakura asked. "You still have injuries that need attending too."

"Please Sakura. I need to do something and need your help. Please…"

Sakura couldn't help herself when Naruto was like this. She did what she was told. Sakura wrapped his left arm around her shoulders. With the help of Tsunade and Gaara, she helped Naruto to his feet. They slowly made their way to Sasuke's body, which was about three feet at best. They knelt down and Sakura removed the white sheet to reveal the body of her former crush. The reason she became a ninja, she had to know what happened before the tears would come.

"What happened, Naruto?" She asked.

Before he answered, Naruto glanced over Sasuke's battered face. He looked…peaceful. He even had a small smile on his face. "After our fight, we both woke up. He wanted to know why I would go so far for him. I told him because he is my friend and when I watched him hurt, I hurt with him. I knew his pain and he knew mine. Sasuke finally admitted a loss to me." Naruto chuckled a bit as a tear left his right eye. "If me losing to him would bring him back, I would lose a thousand times over. His acknowledgement of me, it broke destiny of the two brothers that bound us. He also entrusted me to protect this world and preserve the future and become stronger than anyone could ever imagine, then exceed that limit, again and again. I'm not sure how I'll do it but I know where to start…"

Naruto unwrapped his arm from Sakura's grasp. He, gingerly, moved his hand over Sasuke's face. Naruto took in a deep sigh before he spoke next. "I am sorry Sakura. I know you didn't get to see it but I brought him back, just long enough to release the genjutsu. To you that might be enough, but to me, I failed the promise to bring him back to you. I am so sorry, I'll understand if you don't talk to me anymore."

Before Sakura could get a word in, Naruto placed his hand on Sasuke's left eye. "Divine Sealing: Fusion of Brothers."

Everyone was silent. They all watched, with detailed eyes, looking and waiting for something to happen, nothing did. The only thing that was visible was Naruto taking in deep breath. What did he do? "What did you just do Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"I sealed away his powers so they won't be used for evil doing. Just like you wanted, Raikage."

"How did you do that?" Tsunade asked.

"Well, like Kakashi-sensei said, I'm still learning what I can do."

All were shocked at Naruto's words, what else is he capable of now? And what did he mean by fusion of brothers? By this time, the remaining Ninja Alliance Force arrived at the devastation that was the Final Valley. The ninja were led by the Mizukage, and the remaining members of the Rookie Nine, Naruto's classmates. They were itching at the bit to find out what happened during their dreams, as well as all other ninja were. But they could get those answers, Naruto had one last thing to take care of. He wrapped his arm back around Sakura as she helped him stand back up. He looked to the sky. So far up, easily in the upper atmosphere, were the nine small rock formations holding the Tailed Beasts. Naruto, with the aid of Sakura, made their way up to the decimated cliff that used to between the two statues of the founders of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. His eyes stayed locked in the sky, he wanted to say one more thing to Sakura before fulfilled the promise to Kurama and the other Tailed Beasts.

"Sakura…I know that I didn't bring him back long enough for you to see him one last time. If you don't forgive me, I'll understand and won't blame you. I don't know if I'll forgive myself for it. But I did promise Sasuke that I would protect you, and I fully intend to not break that promise."

"Naruto…" Sakura had tears threatening to run down her face again. It was hard for her to put into words right now, but she never blamed him for this. She was happy that Naruto was alive and that Sasuke was able to see the light and help save the world before he died. Yes, Sakura was upset…hell she was distraught at the death of Sasuke. Before she started healing Naruto, and while healing him, Sakura couldn't stop crying. Not only because of Sasuke, but also because she was worried that she was too late to save Naruto's life. And it was only mere moments before Naruto woke up, did she finally stop crying. Before Sakura could get anymore words in, Naruto performed a one-handed hand sign and saying.

"Release."

Way up in the atmosphere, the spheres made of rock started to fall, crumble, and come apart. The nine Tailed Beasts were freed once again from their imprisonment. Kurama was the first of the Tailed Beasts to land, shaking the ground with the remaining Tailed Beasts following suit. The fox demon made his way over to Naruto and Sakura, standing on the cliff and looking over the valley with the Alliance Force watching. Kurama looked down at his jinchuriki. Being sealed within, he already knew what had happened.

"Naruto…" he said, getting the two's attention. "I probably speak on the behalf of the Tailed Beasts, our condolences is given about the Uchiha."

Naruto looked up at the Tailed Beast that was sealed within him seventeen years ago, yesterday. He smiled. "Being nice doesn't suit you Kurama. But thanks. I could use you right about now."

Naruto stuck up his fist at the fox with the nine tails. Kurama laughed at the boy's words and extended his giant fist as well. They connected and Kurama fused into pure red chakra and came apart of Naruto once again. He turned back towards the ninja, filling the destroyed valley. Naruto knew that there were many things that needed to be done once he returned to the village and was fully healed, but they could wait… For now…

Within the matter of a couple of weeks, all the lives lost and their bodies were collected and returned to their respective villages. One massive funeral service was held in the cemeteries of each village. In the Leaf Village, Tsunade listed all the names of the deceased in front of family members, fellow ninja, and close friends that decided to attend, which was virtually every citizen in the village. As the Hokage read off the list to the crowd, Sakura, who was near the front of the crowd with her fellow classmates, would glance around the crowd. She was looking for a certain blond war hero. Naruto wasn't here? How the hell could he not be here? Sakura slightly leaned over to her best friend, Ino, and whispered.

"Have you seen Naruto?"

"No I haven't. Last I saw him was in the hospital last week. Why? Is he not here?" Ino whispered back.

"I don't see him. Do you really think he would miss this?"

"I'm not sure. He hasn't really been the same since…" Before Ino could continue her whisper, Tsunade said the name… "…Sasuke Uchiha…"

There were noticeable gasps from the crowd. Most were from the villagers, who didn't know what Sasuke did to help end the war and how he, with his last bits of strength, released the worldwide genjutsu. Sakura's head dropped down. Tears did make it out of her eyes but she didn't start crying uncontrollably, much to Ino's surprise. Sakura hasn't been herself either since the end of the war and Sasuke… Even Ino let out a tear when his name was called.

Off in the distance, on the small wall overlooking the cemetery, freshly out of the hospital was the hero of the war, Naruto. He watched and listened from afar, in his black attire like everyone else, as the name of his brother was called in the list for those who died. It hurt for him to hear that, but he knew Sasuke wouldn't want tears shed for him. Naruto considered taking the stand with Tsunade to tell them about Sasuke, but the time was too inappropriate because people were there to grieve, not learn. And the spotlight was on him long enough in the past couple weeks. Naruto would get visits from villagers, in his hospital room, who wanted to thank him personally for his services, and reading hundreds and hundreds of letters from people from other villages that thanked him for either stopping the war or saving their family member when he entered.

Naruto looked over the crowd. He could see all his friends near the front, minus two of course. A part of him knew he should be down there with them but he couldn't face Sakura right now… He felt like she needed space and him being around her would only make her pain worse. As much as Naruto wanted to be around her, tell her everything would be alright, and try his best to take the pain away. But Sakura, from what Naruto could tell, hadn't forgiven him yet. Not to mention, being around each other was rather awkward because of what Sakura did in the Land of Iron. She falsely confessed her love for Naruto and tried to stop his pursuit of Sasuke. The two could hold, maybe, a 30 second conversation before the awkwardness would set in. Tsunade made Sakura Naruto's nurse during his stay in the hospital to try and help mend their relationship, and also because Sakura was the only one who could handle Naruto when he was in the hospital. But it really only made it worse. The two hardly spoke, even if they did, when Sakura would check up on him or during healing sessions.

The last of the names were read off, a moment of silence was held for the fallen ninja of the war. Slowly, the crowd started to dissipate and leave. The only ones that stayed were Sakura, Ino, and Tsunade. The Hokage walked down from the cement stair case of the platform and met the two kunoichi. She noticed Naruto wasn't one of them but knew that he watched from afar.

"Master, did you see Naruto in the crowd at all?" Sakura asked.

"No I didn't see him." Tsunade responded.

"So he didn't come?" Ino asked.

"I never said he didn't come. If you two looked a little harder, you would have seen him." Tsunade pointed over to the far back kunoichi turned to where her finger pointed to see a black clothed figure with blonde hair, and a sleeve flapping in the wind, sitting on the wall. "I ordered his release a little later than I probably should have. Naruto probably stayed back so he wouldn't draw the attention away from where it needed to be."

Ino turned back around but Sakura didn't. Her eyes stayed locked on Naruto. She knew Naruto was looking right back at her. Naruto watched on from his seat on the wall as the three women talked about something…well he only watched one of them. His pink haired teammate, Sakura. She was looking right at him, and he was staring right back at her. Naruto expected Sakura to come to him, while Sakura was expecting Naruto to come to her. Naruto sighed, with his release from the hospital, it was time for Naruto to get a move on…

It had been one full month since the end of the war. And on this day, fireworks going to happen in the night for a celebration of Kakashi Hatake became the Sixth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. Some were surprised that Naruto was not chosen to be Tsunade's successor, especially Kakashi, he was completely caught off guard when the now former Hokage called him, Naruto, and Sakura into her office to give the announcement, the day after the service. Kakashi was humbled at her choice, but he was saddened for his student. Tsunade's reasoning for not choosing Naruto was because he wasn't ready yet. And Naruto agreed, much to everyone's surprise. He took it well…almost too well. Sakura told him it was okay to be upset about her decision. Naruto said he was being truthful and that he was happy for Kakashi. Tsunade could see Naruto was telling the truth, but also she could see that it did bother him. So, the last act of the Fifth Hokage was promoting Naruto to the rank of chunin, without going throiugh the exams again. That sure did cheer him up for a while.

As the night rolled over the world, with Kakashi's inauguration over and done with, fireworks lighting up the sky in celebration for the victory of the war. All ninja and villagers, alike, watched the fireworks get shot off from the top of the Hokage Mountain. It was the perfect opportunity to take his leave. Naruto, with his backpack and wearing his new orange jacket with a black collar and new black pants, stood on the main wall of the almost reconstructed Leaf Village. He wouldn't be gone long but long enough to where he had to inform the new Hokage of his leave of absence. Kakashi tried to get an answer on where Naruto was headed but Naruto didn't say. Naruto only said was to trust him and he would be back as quickly as he could.  
Naruto watched a couple fireworks go off, one of them was the symbol of the village. He decided it was time to get started. He jumped down to the main path, outside the main gates. Naruto started on his new journey…

"Naruto!"

He turned back around to see Sakura running towards him. 'Wonder what she wants?' Sakura stopped a foot ,or so, away from Naruto as she caught her breath.

"Where are you going?" She asked after her breath settled.

Naruto didn't see the point in lying. "I'm heading out for a while."

A confused look came upon her face. "What do you mean? Where are you going?" She asked.

"There is something I need to find and figure out." He said.

Well that made her more confused. "What do you need to find and figure out?"

"I'm not entirely sure yet. I'll know it when I see it, I guess. Hehe…" Naruto scratched the back of his head with his one arm. Sakura was relieved that he was still his normal self…kind of. But what Naruto was saying wasn't making sense to her. But if being around Naruto taught her anything, he always had some type of plan up his sleeve. But Sakura couldn't let him leave without making sure of something.

"Naruto…are you leaving because you think I haven't forgiven you?"

"No. I know you've forgiven me Sakura. I just haven't forgiven myself yet." He said.

"But how? You fulfilled your promise before he passed, Sasuke died believing in you and came back with us." She said, trying to convince him.

"You're right, he did. But I didn't complete the promise fully. I didn't bring Sasuke back to you. Like I promised. I did bring him back but you didn't get to see him. I know that you've forgiven me, which has helped me start to forgive myself. But it's going to take some time to fully forgive myself, if I even get there." Naruto responded

"Naruto…If you wait a month, Lady Tsunade will have the prosthetic arm made from Lord First's cells and I'll be able to come with and help you."

"I'm sorry Sakura but I have to do this alone. If I can't learn to forgive myself, by myself…I might not be able to live with myself."

Sakura didn't want him to go or do have to figure out how live with his guilt that he put on himself. She felt like it was her fault. It was her fault. If she didn't have him make that stupid promise to her, Naruto wouldn't be like this. For a long time now, Naruto had learned to read Sakura like a book. He could tell that she was blaming herself. Naruto moved closer to Sakura, her head was down so she didn't see him, he then lifted her head up, by grabbing her chin, so their eyes met. Her heart fluttered, as did his. They were close enough to feel their breaths on each other. No blush came upon her face, but Sakura's face did feel red.

"Don't worry Sakura. It's not your fault, it never was." He looked to the sky and noticed that the fireworks had stopped a while ago. He had to leave before anyone else noticed. Naruto looked into Sakura's emerald green eyes, they were screaming for him not to go. But he had too, there were a lot of things that were entrusted to him now that needed to be done. Naruto let go of Sakura's chin and slowly backed away. He turned around and headed down the road. "I'll see you soon, Sakura."

Before Naruto could anymore steps in, Sakura asked one last question.

"How long will you be gone?"

"Well you said a month until my new arm is ready." He looked over his shoulder and looked at the beautiful pink haired kunoichi and smiled. "Thank you."


End file.
